China to be the largest WAF market

China is expected to surpass South Korea and become the largest Web application firewall (WAF) market, according to new analysis from Frost & Sullivan.

Recent years have seen an increased momentum in the Web application firewall (WAF) market in Asia Pacific due to factors such as increased use of Web applications in enterprises, and rise in cyber attacks as well as regulatory requirements.

Frost & Sullivan predicts the continued popularity of standalone WAF and confirms the popularity of the integration of WAF with other platforms. The research firm notes that the Asia Pacific Web application firewall market earned revenues of more than US$103.1 million in 2012 and estimates this to reach US$747.1 million in 2019.

The WAF markets in Indonesia and Australia are also forecasted to grow significantly as an increase in the popularity of mobile devices and cloud computing technology in the workplace has led to an increase in the use of Web applications.

The development of the WAF market in Asia Pacific has been attributed to regulations because firms are driven to adopt this technology due to local policies regarding the protection of personal information.

This trend in adoption is particularly on the rise in Japan and South Korea, as per the report titled "Asia-Pacific Web Application Firewall Market."

But these policies have made companies think that WAF does not provide adequate protection for Web applications and hence it is not important to use it as a dedicated application.

This has led to a slowdown in the adoption of WAF technology that is also not popular among businesses in less mature markets such as India due to insufficient budgets. Frost & Sullivan suggests vendors to educate businesses on the role of WAF in mitigating attacks to increase the rate of adoption of this technology.

"The ability of vendors to provide cost-effective WAF solutions as well as WAF-as-a-service will be a critical differentiator for success in the Asia Pacific market," added Huang. "Managed WAF services will become prominent in the coming years, offering added opportunities for security vendors and service providers in the region."